Manufacturing in the USA is for TOUGH Cookies.

Manufacturing food products in the USA isn't the proverbial "piece of cake" that it used to be. Too many companies are moving overseas in search of cheaper production and labor costs- including ingredients. 

The American institution, Nabisco® Inc (owned by Mondelez International), and the maker of "America's Favorite Cookie", the Oreo®, announced in 2021 the closure of multiple US plants and moving production of the Oreo to Mexico. 

“Both Fair Lawn and Atlanta are no longer strategic assets from a geographic footprint perspective and both face significant operational challenges, including aging infrastructure and outdated production capabilities, which would have required significant investment to bring them to the modernized state required for the future,” the company said in a statement.

An Oreo boycott sprung up in the USA in 2014 after many loyal American customers realized that their favorite American treat was being made in another country. 

In August 2015, Presidential candidate Donald Trump announced his support for the boycott, expressing his disappointment because Mondelez was an "American company" and promising never to eat another Oreo.^{[8][9][10][11]} 

Countless other companies, including the Target Corporation moved their cookie production to Mexico instead of awarding American cookie manufacturers like Lady Fortunes Inc of Los Angeles, CA the vendor contract. 

"My company cannot compete with companies that make their products in countries like China and Mexico. The costing we are being quoted to target is absolutely impossible when you take production costs into consideration in the USA", said Daria Artem, Founder and  CEO of Lady Fortunes Inc. 

Artem's company makes hand decorated cookies out of their Los Angeles, CA production facility since 2004. She says that she is losing six figures a year at least in lost business due to major companies sourcing their cookies and confections from Mexico or even China, where labor is cheap and often unregulated and workers do not enjoy the same rights as workers do in the USA. 

There are multiple benefits to buying from a US-based manufacturer including the creation of jobs for American workers as well as paying taxes here in the USA. By buying American made products from American companies that manufacture here in the USA, the operations in America strengthen our economy and generate more taxes which in turn help the country overall. 

Lady Fortunes Inc is holding on to its operation in the Los Angeles suburb of Canoga Park despite multiple opportunities to move the facility across the border. "I could move the factory to Mexico and not have to worry about taxes, payroll, insurance, etc" Artem said, "But then, I could not be proud of enjoying my version of the American Dream- let alone give others the opportunity to find it for themselves". 

Bottom line: "American made products should not only be promoted but cherished." ~ Daria Artem

Find American-made Cookies and Confections at www.LadyFortunes.com